Archive of Programs

2023 Program


Friday, October 27th

OFFICIAL OPENING OF THE CONFERENCE
18:00 - Welcoming & Introduction of Organizers (in Czech and in English)
18:30 - Opening Words: Ing. Libuše Nivnická, prof. Jiří Hanuš, prof. György E. Szönyi, Mgr. Dell Rose, Mgr. Jiří Varaďa etc. 
(in Czech and in English)
19:30 - Petr Kohout Lasenic - a Brno Countryman. New Information and Discoveries by the Documentation Centre for Czech Hermetism (in Czech)
20:30 - Display of the accompanying exhibition „Contemporary Czech Hermetism in Photography and Artifacts“
(in Czech and in English)
21:00 - Welcome Party at the Jiří Mahen Memorial with Refreshments and Music

Saturday, October 28th

MORNING PROGRAM BLOCK (in Czech)
8:00 - Chinese tea ceremony
8:30 - Mgr. Ivo Chmelař, Ph.D.: The Great Mark - Magical Operations, Gruppo di Ur and Implications of Italian Esotericism.
9:10 -
Petr Tomek: Libertines Against Delusion: A Critique of Superstition and Religion in a Historical Perspective Since Austria-Hungary Up To Today
9:50 - Mgr. Lenka Příplatová, Ph.D.: Experimental Research of Religion and Ateism in a Secularizing Society
10:30 -
Mgr. Veronika Šulcová: Business and Folk Magic in the USA
11:10 - Mgr. Matouš Mokrý: "They Clad Themselves in Poisoned Robes of the Form" - Development of the 'Left-Hand Path' as a Negative Esoteric Category in Anglophone Culture 1875 - 1972
11:50 -
Communal lunch

INTERNATIONAL PROGRAM BLOCK (in English)
14:00 - Friday Dancers: Weavers of the Flow (dance performance)
14:15 - Prof. emer. György E. Szönyi: The Esoteric Concept of Exaltatio
15:15 - Bc. et Mgr. Dell Rose: An Eruption of Myth - D’Annunzio’s Fiume, Martinism, and the Politics of Esoteric Vision
15:55 - Mgr. Marion Vrbicky, Ph.D.: Hecate
16:35 - Mgr. et Mgr. Miroslav Vrzal, Ph.D: Czech Satanism - history, directions, trends
17:15 -
Refreshment break & book bazaar

EVENING PROGRAM BLOCK (in Czech)
18:00 - Friday Dancers: Eclipse of the Triple Goddess (dance performance)
& Reading from Mefistofeles – a drama by Jiří Mahen
18:15 - Mgr. Jan Ševčík: Occultism and Politics
19:15 -
Mgr. Olga Čejková: Hunting Magic in Modern Huntsman Culture
19:55 - Leoš Kyša (alias František Kotleta): Conspiracy Theories Before Their Time: Memories of an Old Sceptic
20:35 -
Readings from the books of František Kotleta and discussion with the author
21:15 - Jiří Mahen Memorial closes
21:30 - Communal dinner and pub crawl

Sunday, October 29th

MORNING PROGRAM BLOCK (in Czech)
8:00 - Contemporary Czech tea ceremony
9:00 - Róbert Adamec: A Man With a Secret - Life and Influence of Professor Ján Okruhlica, a Slovak Hermeticists From Plavecké Podhradie
9:40 - JUDr. Olga Rosenkranzová, Ph.D.: Dignity of Man According to Giovanni Pica della Mirandola
10:40 - Honza Krása: Alchemy Before Alchemy: The Development of Technologies Leading to First Alchemic Texts at The End of The Last Era
11:20 - Jakub Staněk: Contemporary Slavic Natural Faith in Czech Republic and Other Slavic Countries
12:00 -
Communal lunch

THEMATIC CITY TOUR (in Czech and in English)
13:30 Visit to St. James's Church and its surroundings
14:00 Tour of the Ossuary at St. James's (with a guide)
14:30 Stroll through the city and St. Peter and Paul Cathedral
16:00 Exploration of the mummies in the Brno Capuchin Crypt (with a guide)
17:00 Tour of the underground labyrinth beneath Zelný Market (with a guide)
18:00 Visit to Špilberk Castle walls